Ok granted the update did just come out. But on a serious note at level 2 the disable visibility of the squid is within 10 points of my wraith BUT TAKES 5 SECONDS???? With the beetle and hawk AI they can be installed on a node safely and won’t disappear. But the squid AI takes 5 seconds to disable a node AFTER A 3 SECOND INSTALLATION? Unless it gets some major reductions to visibility at higher levels and I mean MAJOR reductions it’s almost worthless to get it takes way too long to disable nodes. On a network I just tried to hack I thought I’d try out using it since I just got it to level 2 and wanted to see how it works. And I placed it on a net connection. Without even using a single access I placed it on a net connection and it couldn’t disable ONE node because of how long it’s disable timer is on top of its visibility.

EDIT: program levels and visibility Squid level 2: installation 127/s. Disable 117/s. 3 and 5 seconds respectively.Access level 9: 114/s 1 second install timeWraith level 7: 105/s 2 second install timePortal level 6: 42/s 6 second install timeFor the squid program to disable ONE node it uses the equivalent of 3 accesses and nearly 3 wraiths WHAT THE HECK Guys?!?!? With these visibilities!?!? Again idk what it’s higher level reductions go to but isn’t this a little bit much the wiki hasn’t updated yet so I can’t compare this to the other programs similarly leveled and I don’t know what it’s level cap is.

I WOULD LIKE TO NOTE HEREI’m not aware of what the higher level sensitivities are so I’m not going to outright say it needs a buff or nerf until the wiki updates. I’m just pointing out something which I think is a little questionable about its application timers

I can confirm that at lvl2 the squid is near useless, unless you catch a network with it's scanners down you will generally never get even a single node. It's almost 380 vis just to install and then 117 per second with minimum 5 seconds or 585 vis or 1/7th~ your total vis , this is assuming there are no scanners , if your target is worth going over they have 1-2 gates with a high level scanner behind them , let's say lvl 11-12 ish so 320% , that's now 1872 vis.....

Now granted these are new and it could be a combination of us just not knowing how to use them or dispite there costs they have the same power as any other level 1 node but for the most part the squid does not feel useful.

Hell_Diguner wrote:Take any level 1 program against any level 50+ network and it's going to feel mediocre. Need to see squid in action at higher levels to make any real conclusion.

Also Maniac is not useless. It's just that the compile time is way too long to be practical.

Useless and practical can be used interchangeably in the case of the Maniac and now after the update, the Shocker as well. Using them would be unwise as they're not practical because there's other programs that can do what they do more efficiently, so they're actually practically useless.

TheIconianCat wrote:Unless it gets some major reductions to visibility at higher levels ... it’s almost worthless to get it takes way too long to disable nodes.

The Squid stats have been balanced to work against relative level Scanners. Check out the release GIF for an example.

As Scanner levels on networks are generally already quite high, this will seem imbalanced until Squid AIs are leveled up to match this. As a side note, I think the Level 2 Squid still gets to disable a single node vs Scanner 14, but not against Scanner 15. Additionally, Squid will ignore certain nodes, so if you only need it to Wraith 2 gates, consider installing it 1 step back and avoiding the increased install cost ...

Hell_Diguner wrote:Also Maniac is not useless. It's just that the compile time is way too long to be practical.

(There's possibly been an edit, as I cant see where this fits in to the previous posts.)

In a similar way to how using Data Leech during a brute force attack should never be required if you have enough time, Maniac can be used to inflict a ton of damage in a VERY short amount of time (850 Damage per second at level 1) and Shocker negates the need for defences in most sitations, allowing you to install more attack programs.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those that can read binary, and those that cant.

Yeah, but the Data Leech doesn't take 15 disk space and have a 30 minute compile time. Maniac is at the opposite end of the spectrum of price, size, and compile time. But even then, if you look at a network and decide you need an extra Ram or an extra Wraith, you're looking at a 10 to 15 minute compile time... not a 30 minute compile time. I think the cost and size are justified to prevent people from using it as their main source of damage, but that compile time is just too long for what you get out of it.